What do we think?

Some comments on ‘Going west? Housing, migration and population growth in Cornwall.’

A general comment?

CIWhat can we say? It is an extremely important document for anyone wanting to understand the housing situation in Cornwall. The paper puts everything into context.

It seems a bit technical?

CI Yes it is, but it has to be. Simple soundbites might sound good but they are usually wrong. There is a need for the issues and the data to be dissected to uncover what lies behind the often false headlines and assertions.

What has been uncovered is that very often the data used in reports is not as reliable as we might think. Not only that but there is also the problem that relevant data is not used – for example the housing completions figure frequently used in media reports excludes new dwellings arising from a change of use.

And we know that the housing ‘debate’ is littered with assertions – housing need is greatly over estimated; more land has been developed than we are led to believe; housing need is derived from the resident population.

What do you think will happen now?

CI Hard to say really. We hope that lots of people will read, digest and then disseminate the material in the paper. Ideally Councillors will read the paper and respond accordingly by rejecting the current unsustainable housing targets!